Tired of Waiting
by cartoongeek13
Summary: Just a short, Christmas-themed one-shot for July. JeriKole. Now a part of the Mari's Wish universe, after a few minor edits.


**AN: Now a part of the Mari's Wish universe, with XxPhoenix FlightxX's permission.**

**I have a completely justified and very personal reason for not writing or PMing anything. But I guess I owe you an explanation for my absence, so I'm just going to say I lost two dear members of my family within two days of each other. What I'm trying to say is that I'm grumpy and I don't want any of that to rub off on anyone. Luckily, since I enjoy writing very much, none of that grumpiness has shone through in this one-shot.**

**Now, I know what you're thinking, and yes, I do know that it's July already. But then I thought about the whole Christmas in July thing and thought, "Hey, that's a good excuse." I've been reading a lot of Christmas books lately for a reading contest (they're fairly short books and I need the numbers), and they've sort of put me in the Christmas mood.**

**Disclaimer: I don't own Teen Titans, nor do I own Annabelle's Wish.**

* * *

Wintergreen could see their silhouettes in the lantern's light as Joe led Kole, his best friend, into the barn to receive her Christmas present. The lad, his grandson, hung the lantern on its hook before disappearing into the back room.

Joe himself hadn't gotten many presents this year, but that was just part of growing up. He had turned nineteen in November, so most people who knew him, his Aunt Mae especially, had decided that his age was a good excuse to skimp on the presents; it seemed even Kole had taken advantage of that.

_Come to think of it,_ Wintergreen thought to himself. _she hasn't given Joe a single present yet. _He placed an elbow on the windowsill and leaned forward, his eyes fixed on the young lady in his barn. _What could she be planning?_

Kole had always been a cute and wily little girl, known for tricking Joe into helping her with quite a few of her capers when they were young. Now eighteen and graduated, Kole was both cunning and beautiful. Certainly there was a reason why she had made Joe wait all Christmas day for his gift.

Joe returned, a small box in the palm of his hand. Wintergreen already knew what Joe had purchased at the store the day before, a necklace. Silver with a heart-shaped rose quartz diamond dangling from the slender chain, Joe had picked it out in an instant.

The shorter silhouette bounced up and down in Kole-like excitement as the taller figure handed her the box. The figure mostly stood still as Kole unwrapped it, except to fidget in what Wintergreen determined was Joe-like diffidence.

Wintergreen smiled as Kole gingerly pulled out the necklace. It was nothing grand, but Kole seemed to think otherwise. She threw her arms around Joe's neck and was no doubt saying "thank you" over and over again. After a few seconds of hugging, Kole pulled back and spun around. Wintergreen saw Joe place his hands on her shoulders, and...wait, he was probably just helping her with the necklace.

_Yes, that would make more sense. Just because they're no longer minors doesn't mean they'll try anything out there, Will. _he mentally scolded himself. _Joe is an adult, and Kole too for that matter. _

_Then why do you feel like you have to watch them every second they're together? _another voice in his head piped up.

Wintergreen sighed. The voice had a good point. Ever since Joe had turned eighteen, he had watched his and Kole's friendship like a hawk. It wasn't that he didn't trust them, he just didn't feel at ease leaving them alone outside the house. In town it was okay, but never just the two of them.

_I suppose I have been a little strict with those two. Maybe I should let them go, stop watching so closely. I'll still have to check in, of course, he is my grandson, but only every once in a while._ He thought about it a little more. _Hm, I think they can handle that just fine._

He broke out of his stupor once he realized that there were no longer silhouettes in his barn. _Now I'm gonna have to eat my words! _he fretted as he pulled on his winter jacket and boots and yanked opened the door.

It had been snowing all Christmas day, but the night was clear and cold. He made a beeline for his barn through the knee-deep snow, stopping to catch his breath once he reached the slightly warmer inside of the barn.

He gasped when he heard Joe yell, "Kole, STOP!" His cow mooed in shared protest from her stall. Because there, in her haystack, were Kole and Joe, the former holding him down for what Wintergreen could only assume was _yet another_ kiss.

The girl giggled, but seemingly had no intention of letting him up. "You're so cute," she cooed, as she bent down to lay another one on him. She stopped cold when Wintergreen cleared his throat.

Kole sprang up, looking hopelessly and undeniably guilty. Joe got up more slowly, drained from Kole's exaggerated show of affection.

"That was _not_ what I started out with." Joe drawled, wiping his mouth. He rubbed a hand on the back of his head and began brushing the straw off his jacket.

Kole whimpered. "You're not going to tell my parents, are you, Mr. Wintergreen?" she asked, frantically picking the straw off her coat sleeves.

"I'm afraid I have no choice, Miss Kole." Her shoulders slumped. He sighed. "Let's just get you home. It's past ten." Kole nodded sadly before heading toward his truck.

Wintergreen turned to Joe and demanded, "And just how did all _this_ happen!"

"Woah, Grandpa!" His hands flew up in surrender. "Calm down. Okay, Kole told me to close my eyes while she got my present ready, so I did, and then she just...kissed me." He gulped and admitted, "And I sort of kissed back. But then she pushed me down into the haystack and wouldn't stop!" He turned to his cow, Mari. "Sorry, Mari old girl. We sort of made out in your hay, didn't we?"

_So much for leaving them to their own devices._ Wintergreen thought. He glanced at Kole, who sat in the passenger seat waiting for a ride home. Based on how forward Kole had been, the old man ruled out having the teens in close quarters for the ride to the Weathers' house. "Why don't you go on up to the house, Joe? I'm just driving her home."

Joe nodded. They walked together until Wintergreen split off and climbed into the pick-up, while Joe stayed out on the front porch and leaned against the porch railing. Kole looked miserable as her driver buckled in and put the key in the ignition.

Wintergreen shook his head. "I don't know what I'm gonna do about all this, Miss Kole."

Kole sighed. "Me neither. I mean, I've been waiting for him to do something or say something about us for a long time, so when he gave me the necklace," Her fingers breezed over the small, pink diamond. "I thought that he wanted us together. I was so happy, but I think I just scared him off." She put her face in her hands before banging her forehead against the dashboard.

"It'll be all right." Wintergreen patted her on the back. "Joe just has a lot of thinking to do. And we're gonna have a little _talk_ once I get back, too..." he mumbled under his breath.

Kole's head snapped up. "I didn't get him in trouble, did I?"

"No, I don't think he was being held down because he wanted to."

Kole smiled. "Good." She rolled down her window. "Oh, and Joey," She winked and blew him a kiss. "Merry Christmas!"

Wintergreen couldn't help but chuckle at Joe's reaction. The poor boy paled and gave a quick half wave before hurrying into the house, embarrassed. He started the truck and pulled away, smirking. "You sure got him all worked up."

Kole gently stroked the jewel that Joe had given her. "And he's sure got me." She sighed, smiling. "This was a _wonderful_ Christmas."

* * *

**AN: ****I couldn't help but smile as I was writing this. It does boost my spirits, I have to say.**

**And I would have put this in with the other one-shots I have, but it's a little over a thousand words, which is the average length of a chapter for Shorts. I also like to think of this as a separate story that people can read quickly and enjoy, opposed to having to go through all my other one-shots to find one that they like. **

**Thanks for reading. :)**


End file.
